The Right Kind of Wrong

“There is no way! Lisa exclaimed as she looked at Julia, an amazed expression across her face.

“She did,” Julia insisted. “Tatum went ape-shit on my ass when she found out that I’d stayed over at Tay’s place, on the couch mind you,” she nodded her head slowly. “Right?” she asked, looking over at Emily was sitting right next to her.

“Oh she did,” Emily nodded her head slightly, swallowing her bite of food before she did so. “We were just walking down University and she comes storming up to us, started screaming in Jules’ face about boyfriends, cheating and just crazy things,” she shook her head at the memory. That Tatum girl really was crazy…

“Oh my god,” Lisa breathed. “And I wasn't there,” she complained.

“Is it really all that fun to talk about my pseudo stalker?” Taylor questioned annoyed. He’d bought the girl a drink at a party his sophomore year, she’d been following him around ever since, no wonder no girl wanted to date him.

“I don’t think she’s just a pseudo stalker,” Emily pointed out. “And of course it is, I've never known a person with a stalker before, especially one as entertaining as Tatum,” she smiled widely.

“Em is right,” Adam agreed from his seat at the end of the table, in the middle of shoveling food into his mouth like it was going out of style. Emily had early on learned to just ignore him when he was eating; it was the healthiest option seeing as she otherwise wasn't able to eat her own food. “It’s hilarious.”

“It’s annoying that’s what it is,” Taylor complained darkly. He was pretty sure that Emily would have been at least a bit more interested in him if he didn’t come with his very own psych-patient. He could barely be seen with a girl, alone with a girl, and Tatum would throw a fit worthy an award. She was basically harmless, except for his social life and dating life which suffered great losses whenever she was around.

“It’s just a few more months and you’ll probably never see her again,” Emily pointed out, jumping slightly as a pair of hands landed on her shoulders, causing her to tilt her head back and look up at the person, breaking out in a smile as she recognized the person immediately. “Hey,” she smiled up at him.

“Hey,” Chris smiled back down at her before leaning closer and brushing his lips against hers. “We still on for tonight?”

“Course we are,” she nodded, they were sort of going on their first date. At least a first date that didn’t involve any friends or fast food places.

“I’ll pick you up at seven,” he told her. “Be ready,” he added before he kissed her again, leaving her with a soft blush as she found most of the table looking at her with knowing looks. Apparently it really was a big deal to be dating a hockey player around here…

Watching the tall, brown-haired senior kiss his friend, Taylor had a hard time containing himself, he couldn’t understand what she saw in that piece of timber. Sure, he was tall and probably well-built, if that was your cup of tea, but he still couldn’t understand what she saw in the hockey player, it wasn't like he hung the moon.

“Hot date?” Julia raised her eyebrows in a suggestive manner, a naughty smirk across her lips.

“Actually, yeah,” Emily smiled widely.

“He probably wants to go straight to dessert, you should just skip the date,” Taylor said darkly, pushing the food around on his plate.

“Shut it,” Emily glared at him, as she smacked him around the head. She accepted his misguided hate for the hockey players; he should accept that she didn’t think anything bad about them and that she appeared to be dating one of them.

“With you and Tate around, he is never going to need a real girlfriend,” Lisa smirked, ignoring the dark look Tay sent her as soon as the words passed her lips.

He knew that his friends suspected his crush – it really went beyond that – on Emily, but that didn’t mean that they had the right to make fun of him for it. Especially when the object of his affection was within hearing distance.

“Where is he taking you?” Julia asked curiously, nibbling on a piece of bread as she’d already finished the rest of her food.

“I actually don’t know,” Emily admitted. “As he said, he’s picking me up at seven, that’s all I know, and I shouldn’t wear a skirt,” she shrugged slightly. “He hasn’t told me anything.”

“That is so romantic,” Julia practically gushed, deciding to from thereon live vicariously through her new friend’s love life, at least till she got one herself.

“I'm honestly a little scared,” Emily blushed slightly. “I mean, I have no idea what kind of place he has in mind, not to mention I can’t really ask anyone without alerting him of it,” she complained.

“Just go with it,” Lisa advised her. “The worst thing that can happen is that you have to change clothes when he comes to pick you up. And from the look he gave you, I think you could turn up in pajamas and he’d be a happy camper,” she said knowingly, happy to find that Emily missed the way Taylor’s face fell as he heard her. That boy really had it bad, and it was quite apparent that Emily didn’t reciprocate, at all!

“I’ll just freak out about it when I get back to the dorm,” Emily figured as she put her fork down on her plate, there was food left, but she was full.

“Just call if you need help,” Julia told her.

“Trust me, you’ll regret saying that when I'm in hysterics, my whole wardrobe is on the floor and I can still not find something to wear,” Emily joked, deep down knowing that she would be fretting in front of the closet. She couldn’t even remember the last time she’d been on a real date…

“I doubt it,” Julia smiled at her.

“What’s so amazing about that lumberjack anyway?” Taylor frowned annoyed, it was one thing having your feelings unanswered and a whole other heaving to listen to them talk about their upcoming dates.

“Don’t even go there,” Emily reprimanded him. She knew it was hard to hear about her date, but she wasn't the one asking about it, she wasn't into bragging and the like anyway. And she felt that it would be equally rude to call him out on it and ask the others to not talk about it.

“Wasn't that Chris VandeVelde?” Adam asked as he was apparently back from his food induced coma.

“Talk about slow response,” Lisa raised her eyebrow at him.

“Yeah that was one of the school’s famous players,” Taylor confirmed darkly, ignoring the look Emily sent him. He was in a sulking mood and not even she was going to get him out of it.

“You're a jerk,” Emily stated frankly as she glanced down at the watch on her arm. “And I need to leave,” she announced as she noticed the time.

“Already?” Julia asked surprised.

“Yeah, I have to get to the gym,” Emily nodded in confirmation. “I have…some things to do,” she added vaguely as she grabbed her things.

“Call me if you need any help,” Julia reminded her.

“I will,” Emily nodded.

“And I want, actually I need, all the details,” Lisa said completely serious.

“We’ll see about that,” Emily laughed slightly. “And you should eat something sugary,” she added, looking over at Taylor who was still sulking. “Maybe the sweetness will rub off,” she whispered to him, causing the other people around the table to burst out laughing as she walked away from them. She had an appointment to make…